The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East

by Sandy Tolan

In some ways, the specifics of Bashir’s decision to maintain silence with Dalia do not matter. They are symptomatic of a steady deterioration of relations between Israelis and Palestinians, as Israel claims ever more West Bank land, the settler population surpasses eight hundred thousand, and seventeen Israeli settlements encircle East Jerusalem, long the place Palestinians fought for as the capital of their new nation of Palestine. Now, special roads just for settlers and “VIPs” crisscross the West Bank. Palestinians are not allowed on these roads—even though they, too, were built on lands supposedly set aside for a future Palestine. The vast majority of these radical changes to the landscape occurred despite the “peace process” that began in 1993. Hundreds of checkpoints and other barriers continue to dot occupied Palestinian land, and Israeli military forces retain control of sixty percent of the West Bank, and of Gaza by air and sea. Many Palestinians are cut off from their families, their freedom of movement severely curtailed. Palestinians spend hours waiting at military checkpoints to get to work or to visit family and friends. They are unable to travel to Jerusalem to pray at ancient holy sites, since it is now part of a “unified” Israeli capital and off-limits to most Palestinians.

Since Dalia and Bashir last saw each other, in 2005, multiple wars have devastated Gaza, killing more than 3,200 Palestinian civilians, including more than one thousand children, mostly killed by Israeli air strikes. During that same time, twenty-nine Israeli civilians died from Hamas or other militant rocket attacks launched from Gaza. None of those were children. Yet, despite the dramatic disparity in casualties, throughout Israel, and in the media, Palestinians are often portrayed as the aggressors, and Israelis, the victims. And so, as Israelis become more fearful, and their leaders seize ever more land to expand settlements, the prospects of a just peace agreement grow smaller and smaller. As Palestinians watched their land base shrink, teams of Israeli and American peace negotiators demanded that they accept the “solution” of a shrunken, fragmented homeland, broken into smaller pieces by Israeli settlements and surrounded by military forces. Palestinians are told they must give up their dream of a national capital in East Jerusalem and accept that Gaza will be permanently severed from the West Bank, isolating the two populations from each other, and from East Jerusalem. Under these proposals, Israel would retain military control around Palestinian borders, and even control the precious underground water lying beneath Palestinian cities and towns. Despite internal divisions among Palestinians, they united in rejecting these proposals, considering them no less than sur...

emerged, highlighting nonviolent means for Palestinians to change the rea...

Increasingly, the struggle for Palestinian freedom has led to direct nonviolent resistance, including a growing “BDS” movement, for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, to apply international pressure on Israel to end the occupation and recognize Palestinian rights.